I think the stigma is just as bad, if not worse.
It's true that more people are doing it, but that doesn't mean its reputation has gotten any better. If anything, there are more and more places making fun of online dating than ever before. There are infamous things like nice guys of okcupid, murderer or okcupid profile jokes, and I think one comedian specializes in jokes about online dating. Online dating is now the butt of many jokes in the media.
A lot of this is has to do with it being the internet. Since we're still semi-anonymous, guys will send the most vile and putrid messages to women. People sending dick pics and crude behavior is the norm on these sites. I mean, I'm not saying women aren't harassed or worst out in the real world, but certainly nowhere near as bad as the internet. I wonder how many women sees a man dick the second she meets him in a real life setting? Not many I wager.
Let's not forget fake profiles and murderers. Don't think for a second that the person you see really is the person you think he/she is. You have to jump through hoops to figure out if the person is real or not. Again, these are the possibilities in the real world, but are magnified tenfold in an online setting. We can make people see only what we want them to see. There are some real psychos out there.
Not only that, but I think online dating is even more shallow. I mean, there are so many choices (in big cities anyway) whether you're a guy or a girl. We can now judge looks and ignore "average looking" person for hotter ones. Even with the profiles, we are making judgements about people we know nothing about. We try to put up illusions and make us seem presentable. From a guy's perspective, most girls on the site are copy and paste robots. You can practically close your eyes and guess some of the things she'll write in there (and I'm sure guys have their own profile problems). So at the end of the day, her profile says little to nothing about her, but I'm just messaging her because she's hot. Of course who ever that receives my message is also judging me.
Online dating is like the lottery. You can get lucky and be set for the rest of your life, but chances are, most of us will have to work our whole life just to survive. Use online dating as a supplement, and not as a serious means to meet someone. There are hundreds of success stories, but probably thousands and thousand of untold failures.
I mean, you can try, but don't put all your eggs in the basket. I keep mine up for entertainment ever since some girl verbally attacked me for no reason. Stigmas don't appear out of thin air. Your earn your reputation you know what I mean?
